Moments Between Sleep
by BuZZyReCKy
Summary: In Animal Crossing, when a town is rebuilt, all of its inhabitants and contents are permanently thrown into another dimension, Finaleus. And when Alice find out about her brother's town being rebuilt, she decides to do whatever it takes to bring him home.
1. one

**Moments Between Sleep**

**one.**

"Wake up, Isaac… please, wake up…"

My hands shake my brother's body, oh so gently. Even in his current state, I try my best to not hurt him, but I can't help it. I want him to open his eyes and tell me he's all right. I just want everything to be the way it used to be. That seems like an impossibility, but could this really be the end? He's only seven years old. His life can't be over. I stroke his pale cheek and watch him sleep. He doesn't wake up, like usual. I've been visiting almost daily for the past year, and if nothing changed before, why would he get up now?

Maelle says he's good as dead, but I don't listen to her. She might've been friends with him before, but I don't believe a word that … female duck says. It's like it's always that time of the month for her. But maybe—just maybe—she's right, and the more I think about it, the more the hopes I hold close to my heart crumble. My gaze falls on my brother's serene face again… then the moisture on my cheeks and the splatters soaking into his shirt tell me I'm losing it. He would wake up not today, not tomorrow, but someplace else where life in this world loses all meaning. Maelle might be a horrible person, but she's right.

Isaac's steady breathing tells me he was still with me here for now, and I guess that's all that matters in this moment. I just… can't lose him. We came here when we wanted to leave our parents, our worries, and our world behind… and now he's all I have left. I spend most of my time in my own town, Tourmaline, while Isaac stays here in Topaz, but it's when I sit here at his bed that I feel lonelier than ever.

"You shouldn't be in your bed all day, Isaac," I tell him, "You still have a world of experiences out there waiting for you. You know… mom always said you were going to grow up to be quite the looker."

The truth is, she didn't. She didn't have to; it was obvious enough. My eyes linger on his face; he sleeps like an angel. He's just one of those kids that were blessed with godly genes. Born to be an athlete, a flawless face, sapphire eyes… he's perfect. Then there's me. Alice, the socially awkward girl. Alice, the loser that needs to wear makeup to barely scrape a seven. Alice, the girl whose friend jumped off the roof of the auditorium. It's really not a surprise that I wanted an escape. Isaac, however, didn't really want to come here. I shouldn't sit here by his sleeping body and hope he'll come back, because he won't. He's a child, and our worlds are completely different. I'm still here, but he's moved on. I don't blame him either. He has a good life, and he shouldn't have to waste it away with me. Ten years from now, he'll have all the girls he could ever want.

If he'd only wake up…

I sit by his side for a little longer, but eventually even hoping gets tiring. I slink back out of his house, feeling worse than I did before (which says a lot, considering). With Isaac gone, I really don't want anything else to do in this town, so I make a beeline for the gate. Who knows? Maybe I give up. Maybe I won't be coming through here tomorrow.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Maple. She and I used to be really good friends back when she lived in Tourmaline, but when she left I thought she was gone forever. Did I really not notice her being here, despite all the visits I've been making over the past two months? I want to run up to her, scream and hug her tightly, but I can't. Not now. Not like this. She'd probably know how to make me feel better, but I don't want to bother her with my burdens again. In our friendship, it really seems like that's all I've ever accomplished.

_Please don't see me… please don't see me… _

I hurry towards the gate. Oh well, she'll understand. It's not like a day is going to make a difference after it's been this long. I make a mental note to visit her when I'm not feeling like killing myself, and then I enter the gaping archway at the edge of town. Like usual, that preppy dog is at his post, but I'm in no mood to deal with him right now. He appears to be zoning out, but when he hears my sneakers striking the cobble floor, he comes back to reality.

"How was he today, Alice?" he asks. I don't answer. Copper should know how Isaac was anyway; we've gone through this conversation way too many times for me to bother. I shoot him a grumpy glare, and he nods in embarrassment as I leave Topaz. It's really a shame he only sees me like this. If I weren't always in such a bad mood, we could be friends. He seems to be nice enough, despite his normally sour face. Nothing like the Copper in my town, at least.

Instinctively, I whip my umbrella out before I'm fully outside. And no, it's not because I like to show off my black umbrella. The ocean is literally falling from the sky just outside town, despite there being clear skies inches from the gate… but that's just how it is here, and I'm used to it. There's no taxi to take me back this time either. It's fine. I don't want a ride anyway. I huddle my arms, shivering, and I head in the direction of my home. I don't care if the sun is still far from setting… I want to curl up and die in a bed of my own.

Maybe then they'll know how I feel.

* * *

Authors Note:

So this is my newest fanfic... started in March 2012. It's... different, I guess. I don't necessarily love it, but it's better quality-wise than my other stories, I suppose. I've always had an interest in both present tense and second-person narration, but since I don't want to write a story in second-person, this is what I came up with.

I don't know if this story is worth continuing, but I guess I'll keep it going while I still can. We'll get into plot a few chapters later... for now it's just going to be intro stuffs.


	2. two

**two.**

The rain doesn't stop. Not as I head towards town, and not as I pass through the town gate either. No matter. I am already drenched to a point where my skin could be peeled off like feathers, so the raging sky only makes it easier to hide the fact that I've been crying.

As usual, despite the grass being a peppy shade of green, the moment I leave the safety of the gate's stone floor I get a shoe full of earthen pudding. An appropriate curse slips out, and I want to make the clouds feel my pain, but it's not the end of the world, right? I don't care anymore. A lot of the things in this world are mixed blessings, and they are ones I've chosen to live with. Still, I try to avoid as much grass as I can the rest of the way home. The mud is surprisingly less… muddy.

My walking– no, my _sloshing_ continues, and after eternity has ended and started over again, my house comes into view. I see that the cosmos garden someone's made nearby has grown. Ew. My hand goes up to cover my nose. I consider trampling it into oblivion, but for the planter's sake, I don't. Sometimes I'm too kind for my own good. It's going to be the death of me tomorrow… I know it. The smell alone of that wretched plant is poison enough to end me, but I'll just lock myself in and pray it dies before I leave my house again. Which will be never, of course. I guess that's another reason to thank the rain. It sort of blanketed the stench, and the aroma of wet earth was surely better than that of the cosmos.

Well, here we are. My front door. My only door, actually… isn't that a fire hazard? I swear, the way the buildings in this town were made… Tortimer, I'm onto you. That aside, I yank it open and fly across the room into the shower, not even bothering to take off my clothes. That's the joy of living in a one-room house. Two, technically, but we're not permitted to keep anything but beds in our attics, though I'm not complaining. I got lucky; this is actually one of the bigger houses in Tourmaline.

The hot water faucet groans as I spin it, but I'll save my compassion towards inanimate objects for another day. Right now, nothing but warming myself is on my mind. I feel like I could sit under this rusty stream of heaven forever, and I just might. Why not? It's not like my skin will look any more like a raisin than it already does. The filth falls from my legs like rotting flesh, temporarily painting the floor of my tub brown, and I'm clean again. I sigh. There's no point in staying in the shower. It's not the rain that took my warmth away. If I waste any more water, Nook will want to murder me, and that would make two of us.

The fatigue from my walk home protests to my apathy, and my legs begin to ache. It's been a long day. I let the flow of water slowly die, then I climb out of the tub and collapse on the floor. Am I sick? No. Tired? Maybe a little. Maybe a little of both, and maybe even more than that… Not literally, but of life and everything in it. I'm pathetic. Look at me, waiting for recovery, redemption from a nightmare I'm forced to live every time I wake.

There's no hope for Isaac, and none for me either.

I stay down in my pool of tepid water, in my soggy clothes, in a house that I am certain is my grave. I stay anchored to the splinter-ridden floor… by heavy thoughts and emotions I've had to carry for longer than my body can handle. This is my limit. I'm not going to lie. It's painful… the breaking down of one's will to survive. I've had experiences like this before… but in this one moment, I'm certain that everything I've built up everything I am – has come tumbling down. My body might be physically healthy, but there's no doubt in my mind that my emotional state will kill me.

But this isn't how it's supposed to end… is it? No, I'm not going to let myself go. At least not here in the middle of my house. If I'm going to go, I want to at least get myself comfortable. I stretch as I force myself onto my feet, and I head towards the stairs like a zombie. Personally, I'd rather climb Everest on a good day than have to deal with this now, but the thought of my bed being just upstairs keeps me determined. One step at a time, I creep up the stairs, moving almost as slowly as the mayor on a Saturday morning. Gosh, whoever designed these stairs needs to be smacked.

But that thought instantly becomes irrelevant, because I see my bed. With newfound energy I sprint across the creaky floorboards and I dive into it, not even caring that I'm still wet. I realize how weird that is… being excited to fall asleep, but you know what? I'm a freak, I've always been told I was, and maybe I like it. At least I'll be free from this crap for a good nine hours.

And if, by some chance, I never woke up again… now _that_ is an opportunity I'd die for.


	3. three

**three.**

I wake up.

That's all there is to it, really. It was a brief breath of respite, but now I'm left to fend for myself until the next moment of sleep comes.

The sun nervously peeks through the corner of my window. I guess I was out for more than nine hours… a lot more, by the looks of it. I bury my head into my pillow. I don't care what time it is; I just know it isn't time to get up yet. It probably won't be, ever. It's not like I have things to do. At least, I think I don't… and then I remember the letter.

The letter. I know it's somewhere in my pocket, tear-soaked and wrinkled from being crumpled before. It was the kind of letter that only meant one thing. It meant she was gone, and there was no bringing her back. Sometimes you'll run into old friends elsewhere, but you can just tell. They aren't the same. I can't explain it, but you just know that something happened. That something changed. So when you get that final letter, you know your friend's fate is already set.

And the letter came in. I shouldn't have held on to it, but I couldn't help it. Goodbyes aren't my thing. I'd rather cut my hands off than have to let go, but sometimes you don't have a choice in the matter.

Really though, I never saw it coming. Maple was happy here. She didn't even think once about leaving, or at least from what I knew… and I knew a lot about her. We were close, or so I thought. That's the thing about it. You never really know when to expect these things. They happen– just like that, and then they wreck you. I guess some things never change, no matter where you are. But this time, it's different. Maple _isn't _gone forever; she's been mere feet away from me all this time.

Then why hasn't she said anything? She knew all about Isaac, so wouldn't she have noticed when she moved into Topaz? I know people change, but I really don't think Maple could take everything we had and toss it in the trash. I admit I wasn't the best person I could've been for her, but she would never kill our friendship like this… would she? Maybe there's more to this than I can understand right now. Still, I can't let this sit around for much longer. I have to talk to her– maybe not now, but soon. I have to know what happened. It's not a good enough reason to get me out of bed though, at least not now. Between the gentle rays of sunlight and my covers, I found heaven, and it's something I'm not ready to give up yet. You know, maybe this 'being awake' thing really isn't as bad as I've made it out to be. Well, I think that… and then comes the knocking.

"Alice!"

It's Pelly. There's no doubt about that; I'd recognize that voice anywhere. She's almost never outside of town hall, so I don't know why she's at my door, but I really don't want to find out. That would involve walking downstairs, and there is no way that's going to happen. Hopefully she'll think I'm out and–

"Alice, I know you're in there! It's an emergency!" she calls.

God, can I not enjoy myself for once in my life without distraction? It seems Pelly isn't shutting up or leaving anytime soon, so I guess I don't have a choice. I push myself out of bed and hobble down to the front door as quick as my tired body allows. I get there pretty quickly. Pelly notices, but I suspect that has more to do with the racket I made, rather than her attentiveness. I push my door open.

It's not even open an inch, and Pelly is already babbling, "Alice, I'm sorry. I'm SO sorry please don't be mad or sad and I know this is going to be really hard to take in but oh my goodness I don't really know how to tell you this and–"

"PELLY," I say, and with my grumpy interruption, she quiets down, "Geez, just tell me what happened." The door is fully open now, and my arms are folded nervously in front of me. I haven't seen Pelly this flustered since… well, never.

"Alice… I don't want to be the one to break the news to you, but someone has to. Well, you see… sometime overnight, we received news from Rover that Topaz… that Topaz…"

That Topaz what? My heart sinks. Did they find Isaac dead? No, they couldn't have; I _just _saw him yesterday. "Just tell me, Pelly. Come on… spit it out."

Pelly takes a deep breath and calms down. She looks me in the eyes. I see something in her that I've never seen before… is it pity or sadness? Maybe a little of both. She's shaking, _visibly_ shaking, and that scares me.

"Topaz… was rebuilt. Topaz and all of its residents are no more."


End file.
